City Beat | Hong Kong independence banners present a real test of Carrie Lam’s political wisdom

The idea of Hong Kong independence was first raised by a localist academic back in 2011. It was then brought into the spotlight in 2014, when University of Hong Kong student magazine Undergrad published a piece titled “Hong Kong Nationalism”, which was immediately attacked by the city’s then-leader, Leung Chun-ying, who made a high-profile warning against the spread of the idea in his 2015 policy address.

Yet, finding a more workable way to curb independence is the subject of a debate that continues until now. The dilemma is, while most Hongkongers neither see nor support independence as a viable option – and this is the “red line” set by President Xi Jinping that Hong Kong can never cross – how the government can effectively prevent the proliferation of the idea is easier said than done.

So, on Friday, when Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor issued a strongly worded statement warning that “academic freedom and autonomy of the universities do not justify the advocacy of fallacies”, it provided some clues to her governing style.